5 Uncommon Side Effects of Sleep Loss you should Know about

December 20, 2013

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We all know what’s up with sleep loss. It’s the cause of students walking around campus in a zombie-like fashion. It’s the reason for grogginess, bad moods, teetering on the edge of your nerves, and even arguments. I can go on and on telling you about the social effects of sleep loss, but I’m here to specifically tell you about the easily overlooked effects of sleep deprivation.

Sure, we have a lot of articles talking about insomnia and other circadian rhythm disorders, but it doesn’t hurt, to know about the other uncommon side effects of sleep loss. Understanding such side effects will help you to avoid them better and ultimately allow you to maximize your slumber on your precious mattress.

Sleepwalking

There are times when The Walking Dead becomes true in a very personal and nocturnal way. Sleepwalking isn’t really something you experience; it’s something you just do. I’m not limiting it specifically to you, since I’m not sure if you do it or not, but you get the point.

Sleepwalking has been found out to be a direct result of sleep deprivation. It’s not something that goes on with a 100% success rate, but deprivation significantly raises the percentage of the possibility of performing a zombie walk impersonation, especially among grown-ups.

Migraine

If there are two things that people dislike about their anatomy, it would most likely be the speed of fat accumulation and… headaches. The latter is more relatable than the previous, since not everyone gets fat as quickly as some of us do. In either case, migraine chooses no one. Some have migraines more often than others, but it’s a fact that lack of sleep greatly increases the possibility of migraine occurring in individuals.

Hallucinations

Now this one is a bit trippy. I’m sure you’ve heard of lucid dreaming, but visual hallucinations are really a step higher compared to those. Of course, I’m not talking about drug-induced ones, but in a certain specific degree, mild hallucinations can be experienced by spending a long period of time without any sleep at all. It’s not worth it, trust me. It’s like drugs.

Obesity

Here’s a whole article about sleep loss and weight gain, but in the small way of how staying awake for longer periods of time can increase your appetite, sleep deprivation can be one of the many main reasons for significant weight gain. After all, sleep deprivation messes everything up from your brain function all the way to your metabolism.

Sleep Paralysis

Sleep paralysis is more common than you think. What causes is it is generally a really unhealthy sleeping pattern, be it oversleeping or under-sleeping. Of course, under-sleeping is just largely a parallel description of having a really bad sleeping schedule, and being deprived of its meager contents.

In most things that can be avoided and taken out, it’s always a good principle to follow the golden rule of “prevention is better than cure.” Honestly, when you’re in the actual situation in any of the previously mentioned effects, it gets very difficult to get out of it. Some of it might last for a few moments, but those long-term effects are harder to lose, especially when talking about obesity.

That’s why prevention is better than cure, especially in this context when all of them are avoidable by following one thing – sleeping well every night. That’s why I bid you the best. Sleep tight!